Surprise

//səˈpɹaɪz// intj, name, noun, verb

intj, name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something unexpected. countable, uncountable

    "It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought."

  2. 2
    the act of surprising someone wordnet
  3. 3
    Something unexpected.; A mess of feces, left by a pet or small child in an unexpected place or at an unexpected time. countable, uncountable

    "After the housecleaners drove off, the cat left a surprise for us on the carpet."

  4. 4
    a sudden unexpected event wordnet
  5. 5
    The feeling that something unexpected has happened. countable, uncountable

    "Imagine my surprise on learning I owed twice as much as I thought I did."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted by something unexpected. transitive

    "It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did."

  2. 2
    cause to be surprised wordnet
  3. 3
    To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise. transitive

    "He doesn’t know that I’m in the country – I thought I’d turn up at his house and surprise him."

  4. 4
    attack by storm; attack suddenly wordnet
  5. 5
    To undergo or witness something unexpected. intransitive

    "He doesn’t surprise easily."

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  1. 6
    come upon or take unawares wordnet
  2. 7
    To cause surprise. intransitive
  3. 8
    To attack unexpectedly. transitive
  4. 9
    To take unawares. transitive

    ""You were right," replied Isabella, "and I should not have surprised your confidence, had I not had something I wished to say. I know what you mean to do with Mr. Glentworth's gift—a marriage would scarcely be one without wedding-dresses—he has been equally generous to me, and you must keep the money till it is wanted, which, I hope, will be soon.""

Intj
  1. 1
    Drawing attention to a surprising action by oneself.

    ""Surprise!" we shouted as we jumped out from the cupboard. "Happy birthday!""

  2. 2
    Drawing attention to something that should have been obvious. sarcastic

    "When we add code modules, we will have an additional folder called (surprise!) Modules."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A number of places in the United States:; A city in Maricopa County, Arizona, the largest place with this name.
  2. 2
    A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Jackson County, Indiana.
  3. 3
    A number of places in the United States:; A village in Butler County, Nebraska.
  4. 4
    A number of places in the United States:; A populated place in Greene County, New York.
  5. 5
    A number of places in the United States:; Former name of Surprise Station, California.

Synonyms

All synonyms
astonishmentbombshelladmirationalarmamazeamazement

Example

More examples

"It's not much of a surprise, is it?"

Etymology

From Middle English surprise, borrowed from Middle French surprise (“an overtake”), nominal use of the past participle of Old French sorprendre (“to overtake”), from sor- (“over”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin super- + Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere (“to grasp, seize”). Doublet of suppli.

Related phrases

October surpriseSurprise Baycome as no surpriseelement of surpriseprinciple of least surprisequel surprisesurprise lilysurprise partysurprise surprisesurprise test paradoxtake by surprisetomato surprise

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.